Piccolo, who had been listening to the whole exchange from the sidelines, allowed himself a small smile. This bewildering Supreme Kai had clearly miscalculated.
Zamasu's expression flickered with barely concealed displeasure at having his invitation rejected so bluntly.
"How utterly insolent," he said. "You have squandered your own power, and turned your back on a cause greater than yourself."
A portal materialized behind him, and he stepped through it without a backward glance. The substitute referee came tottering up the arena steps, visibly shaking, and tried in vain to rouse the unconscious official. Getting no response whatsoever, he had no choice but to announce in a trembling voice that Son Goku had advanced to the next round.
...
Deep in the Demon Realm, Ino was lost again.
The more lawful one's alignment, the more disorienting the Demon Realm's chaotic aura became. It was practically a law of the universe.
"Where in the world am I?" There was no one around she needed to keep up appearances for, so she had dropped the Transformation Technique entirely, wandering through the Demon Realm in her loli form and picking fights along the way.
Thanks to Vados's intensive training, her natural base state had stabilized at roughly the equivalent of a seven-year-old's physique. Time was simply too "heavy" for her small frame to bear; advancing even one year to an eight-year-old state was not something that could be achieved overnight.
As for Ultra Instinct — she hadn't even glimpsed the door yet, let alone walked through it. Son Goku's silver-haired form, the one that had everyone screaming in awe, was in truth nothing more than the very first step through that door. When Vados or Whis used it, there was no such dramatic transformation at all — and the Grand Minister was in a league entirely beyond that.
Still, even without breaching that threshold, Ino's grueling training over this period had produced real results. Vados was a master teacher in every sense — if she could guide a Destroyer, teaching Ino was more than well within her capabilities.
The latent potential of a Supreme Kai had been rapidly drawn out. Her mastery over time had grown increasingly precise and refined. Her battle power had long since surpassed ten billion, and once she released her Time Power, that figure could multiply several times over on top of her base state.
Demon Realm King? Towa? Ha. Neither of them could survive a single move from her now. Gohan-absorbed Buu might still be a problem — but Fat Buu? She wasn't afraid of Fat Buu in the slightest.
Ino pressed on through the Demon Realm, searching.
She occasionally snagged a Demon Clan soldier and demanded directions, but it was useless. Zamasu had beaten Dabura so badly that the Demon Realm King had already relocated his palace three times over by current count. On top of that, a flood of deliberately mixed true-and-false intelligence had been seeded throughout the realm. Ordinary low-ranking Demon Clan members genuinely had no idea where Dabura was living.
If she couldn't even find someone as conspicuous as Dabura, then the wizard Babidi was going to be nearly impossible to locate.
"Lord Supreme Kai, it's this way — definitely this way!" A hulking brute of a Demon Clan soldier was leading Ino forward. This one appeared to be a commander of some rank — he had shown up earlier with a force of over ten thousand soldiers to surround a lone "child," only for his entire army to be wiped out in a single move, leaving him to be taken prisoner.
Ino couldn't be bothered to figure out the Demon Realm's layout on her own, so she had him lead the way instead.
Whatever scheme Babidi was cooking up, it didn't matter — she'd go kill Dabura first, and then there would be nothing left for any wizard to work with.
"Are you sure it's this way? Why is it getting darker the further we go?" She directed the question at the Demon Clan commander walking beside her, her seven-year-old face perfectly composed.
"Almost there, almost there..." the Demon Clan commander replied, his voice carrying a distinctly sinister undertone.
"Food... delicious food... Yakon is hungry!" A garbled, slurring voice drifted out of the darkness ahead.
Ino smiled. The Demon Clan commander beside her was smiling too.
"Idiots," she said. "Do you actually think something like this would frighten me? You've drastically underestimated me." Yakon's battle power was roughly comparable to Frieza's during the Planet Namek Saga — and these Demon Clan soldiers had genuinely considered him a trump card capable of turning the tide. Laughable.
A thread of crimson light sparked between Ino's fingers and drove cleanly through the Demon Clan commander's skull.
She now had a far more useful guide.
She recalled that Babidi had also placed Yakon under his control at some point. Could she use the beast in reverse — follow it back to Babidi?
"My luck really isn't bad," she murmured to herself. "Settle things here sooner, get back to training sooner." She stood her ground and waited for the massive creature known as Yakon to show itself.
Yakon was something of an apex predator within the Demon Realm.
His offspring were frequently captured by the various Demon Clan factions and used as expendable shock troops, while also serving as prized experimental material for many of the Realm's sorcerers. As the source of that bloodline, Yakon himself was immensely powerful, lurking within an environment of absolute darkness. Most people had no desire whatsoever to provoke an enemy of his caliber.
Right now, Yakon was concealed within that darkness, watching the faintly luminous figure of Ino like a hunter sizing up its prey.
Something about this particular quarry was nagging at his instincts. It was... different from the ones before?
One minute later.
"Kneel properly! Kneel straight! Can't you understand basic instructions? Are you still not convinced?" Ino stood over her captive, holding a black rod like a teacher's switch, surveying the figure before her.
Yakon, his face swollen and black-and-blue, knelt on the ground with tears practically welling in his eyes. Heaven and earth were his witness — he was doing his absolute best to maintain a kneeling posture. But his legs were reverse-jointed by nature; a straight kneel was simply anatomically impossible for him.
"Head up."
Ino examined the top of his head with a critical eye.
"Stick your neck out. No neck? What kind of bizarre creature are you? Chest out, chin up!"
"No mark on his head, none on his chest, none on his back either..." Ino circled him, inspecting front and back. There was no trace of external energy control on him anywhere — and more importantly, no sign of the "M" brand she associated with Babidi.
So he hadn't been brought under Babidi's control yet. Had she arrived too early?
"Do you know where Dabura is?" Ino asked.
Yakon's instinct was to shake his head — but the moment he saw the expression on the "child's" face turn cold, he nodded frantically instead.
In truth, he spent his days holed up in his lair and never went anywhere. He had absolutely no idea where Dabura lived. But self-preservation came first — agree for now, stall for time.
...
Ino had Yakon lead the way. They had barely made it out of that pitch-black territory when a sharp, keening sound split the air.
Ino's expression didn't change. She watched calmly as a gleaming silver spear drove straight through Yakon's skull.
The spear was wreathed in black-red flames. It had come fast and clean — punching in through the frontal bone and erupting out through the back of the neck like a needle through tofu, the clinging flames searing a gaping, through-and-through hole in Yakon's head. He was dead before he hit the ground.
Towa stepped out from the shadows — the same red robes, black stockings, and red heels she always wore. She flicked her wrist, and the silver spear flew back to her hand.
She looked Ino up and down, seemingly quite curious as to why this former adversary had become so... small. Still, the face was unmistakable.
"What happened to you, Lord Supreme Kai?"
"Does it matter what happened to me?"
"I suppose not... You've come looking for my brother, haven't you?"
"That's right. Would you be willing to show me the way?"
Towa's lips curved into an unsettling smile. "My brother has been placed under magical control by that repulsive Babidi. I was just about to go rescue him myself. If you're not afraid — feel free to follow."
Ino hovered in midair, her expression unchanged. "Sounds like a trap. But that's fine. Lead the way."
____
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉